SCHEDULE
Classes will begin at the start of the Summer semester, and we will do all of our course work in Savannah. The last two weeks of the semester will be spent in Ireland seeing historic sites we have read about and studied in class.
Itinerary–Ireland
2001
July 28–Depart Savannah at 1:05 p.m. on
U.S. Airways for Boston via Charlotte. Depart
Boston for Shannon on Aer Lingus at 8:10 p.m.
Dinner will be served shortly after takeoff and a light breakfast will be
served prior to our arrival in Ireland.
July 29–Arrive Shannon 7:00 a.m.
Irish time. After collecting our bags and clearing customs, we’ll be
met by our Irish driver/guide who will escort us to our motor coach.
We’ll begin our trip with a visit to the Burren and the spectacular
Cliffs of Moher in West Clare before continuing our journey along the Atlantic
coast to the medieval city of Galway, our first overnight stop.
Dinner in the Imperial Hotel (D).
July 30–Enjoy a walking tour of Galway
on your first full day in Ireland. Enjoy
the afternoon off to tour the city on your own or visit the famous Galway Horse
Races in nearby Ballybrit. Dinner
and overnight Imperial Hotel (B, D).
July 31–After breakfast we head off in
the morning through the scenic and Gaelic-speaking Connemara.
See the spectacular Falls at Leenane before heading on to Ireland’s
most famous shrine, Knock, in
County Mayo. En route we will stop
in the village of Cong, location of John Wayne’s “The Quiet Man.”
After Knock we will visit Westport House ancestral home of the Marquis of
Sligo and the scene of a major famine effort. Dinner and overnight in the resort town of Westport. Castle
Court Hotel (B, D).
August 1–Depart Westport after breakfast
for the abandoned famine village on Achill Island.
After Achill we drive to the Famine Museum at Strokestown, Co. Roscommon.
From Strokestown we head east and cross the River Shannon at Athlone
before visiting the early Christian site at Clonmacnoise.
Overnight in Portlaoise, Co. Laois.
Montague Hotel (B,D).
August 2–From Portlaoise we drive 70
miles east to Dublin. Visit the
museum of Irish nationalism at Kilmainham Jail before checking into our hotel. After a Dublin orientation session you will have until Sunday
morning to yourself. You can stay in Dublin or visit other parts of the country
or the British Isles from the capital city. Dublin has excellent train and bus
links with the rest of the country as well as numerous flights to London.
Overnight Mount Herbert Hotel (B).
August 3–Dublin (Suggestion--Check out
the National Museum, the Irish Parliament, and National Library (especially
grad. students) on Kildare St. See
also the famous Book of Kells at the historic Trinity College). Overnight Mount
Herbert Hotel (B).
August 4–Dublin (Suggestion–Shop
in historic Grafton St. and visit the revitalized and cosmopolitan Temple Bar
area. While there visit the Bank of
Ireland the home of the Irish parliament abolished in 1800, Dublin Castle, and
Christchurch Cathedral). Overnight
Mount Herbert Hotel (B).
August 5–Back together again, after
breakfast we head south from Dublin through the Wicklow Mountains on our way to
the sites of the 1798 rebellion. We
will tour these sites before visiting the 1798 heritage center in Wexford Town.
Overnight Riverside Park hotel, Wexford (B, D).
August 6–From Wexford make our way west
again toward Cork. On our way we
will stop in Waterford to see the Waterford Crystal Factory.
After Waterford on then to Cobh, County Cork–the last port of call for
the S.S. Titanic, and the departure point for hundreds of thousands of
Irish emigrants. We will visit the
Cobh Heritage Centre which displays information on the Titanic and the
Irish emigration story. Overnight
Middleton Park Hotel, Middleton, Co. Cork (B,D).
August 7–From Middleton we head West
around Cork City to the old town of Kinsale.
From there we travel to the birthplace of Michael Collins, Woodfield, and
then onto the site of his ambush, Beal namBlath, before going onto the other
famous IRA ambush site at Kilmichael. Overnight
in the former plantation town of Bandon. Munster
Arms Hotel (B, D).
August 8–From Bandon we head further
West visiting Mizen Head the most southerly point in Ireland.
Next stop America! From
Mizen we head North through the picturesque village of Glengarriff over the
mountains into Kerry. Make sure you
have plenty of film. We will then
tour the famous Ring of Kerry including Daniel O’Connell’s home at
Derrynane, where Ireland’s highest mountains meet the ocean, before heading
into the lively town of Killarney. Overnight
International Hotel (B,D).
August 9–This day we’ll visit the
other spectacular Kerry peninsula of Dingle.
In Dingle we will go on a tour of Slea Head which has spectacular scenery
but also a large concentration of ancient monuments.
Back to Dingle and then over the breathtaking Connor Pass and back to
Killarney via Tralee. International
Hotel (B, D).
August 10–Leave Killarney for
County Clare via the home place of Eamon De Valera in Bruree, Co. Limerick.
From Limerick we’ll make a visit to Ireland’s best refurbished
castle, Bunratty. The castle
complex also includes a folk village and a nineteenth-century street.
Overnight in The Queen’s Hotel in the heart of the medieval town of
Ennis, County Clare. (B,D).
August 11–Depart Ennis for the short
trip to Shannon airport and our return to Savannah via Boston. Check-in time
1:15p.m. (B) Dinner on the plane. Arrive
Savannah on US Air from Charlotte at 11:30 p.m.
*Some details may change due to unforeseen circumstances.
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